My Buddy Dan Simmonds is going to take a run at John Ryan's record time of 86 hours and 31 minutes in a motorcycle ride from Deadhorse, Alaska to Key West, Florida. It's important to note that this ride is not a race. It's simply an unofficial time that was accomplished by an exceptional rider named John Ryan in 2009. Apparently several people have tried to trim some time off of John's record since, but no one seems to have been able to "out-run him"...so to speak.

Dan Simmonds is 37 years old and has been riding motorcycles for 18 years. He used to ride a 1984 Honda Interceptor till the wiring harness caught fire. Since then, he's owned a 1999 Yamaha R6, a 2006 Buell Ulysses, a 2009 BMW R1200GS, a 2012 Yamaha Super Tenere and now he's attempting this feat on a 2013 BMW R1200GSA.

He has been planning this trip in great detail for more than two years and this trip up the Dalton highway is his 4th.

He has prepared himself physically through diet and exercise on a Schwinn Airdyne exercise bike. He eliminated caffeine from his diet some time ago and has chosen high electrolyte drinks and high protein content food and drinks while the ride is underway to maintain good energy levels.

Dan is a member of the Iron Butt Association and well as the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America.

Dan arrived up at Fairbanks, AK on the 9th of June. On the 10th he changed the oil in the engine of his 2013 BMW R1200GSA. With Walmart's permission, he used one of their oil drain pans and their parking lot to do it in. Gotta love that!

Dan got that done then started heading up to Deadhorse on the 11th. I think he spent the night of the 11th at Cold Foot, although I'm not certain of that. We had a little communication problem when he was in that area. In any event, he arrived in Deadhorse on the 12th and basically rested for the day.

On the 13th of June he changed both his tires at a shop in Deadhorse. Apparently someone up there was also kind enough to allow him to use their facilities

June 14th 2013
Dan got a receipt from Napa Auto Parts in Deadhorse, AK @ 1903 hours local time, 2303 hours Eastern Time.
That receipt will serve as the official start time for his attempt to break John Ryan's record time of 86 hours and 31 minutes
in the Ultimate Coast to Coast ride from Deadhorse, Alaska to Key West, Florida.

We refer to this as a Ultimate Coast to Coast ride, but the Iron Butt Association does not recognize it as such. They are in no way sanctioning this ride/record attempt. We're simply referring to this as a UCC ride for geographical reasons....it's the same route.

Although this is commonly known and referred to as an Iron Butt ride, this record attempt is not recognized by the Iron Butt
Association. They can't support this kind of activity because of the potential risk of harm to those taking part. Dan will
however be following officially recognized IBA documentation standards and rules such as the one that states that you can't go more than 400 miles between gas stops. It makes sense to go by IBA standards because they're tried, tested and they've worked the kinks out of documenting long distance motorcycle rides over the years.

So, Dan arrived in Coldfoot (241 miles) after a casual 3 hours and 15 minutes of gravel, dust and a light sprinkling of
pavement. A distance of about 241 miles at an average speed of about 74 mph...give or take a bit. He arrived at 2215 hours local (Alaska) time or 0215 hours Eastern time. Apparently Dan means business. A man on a mission so to speak...

His total time from Deadhorse (495 miles) was 6 hours and 40 minutes for an average speed of 74 MPH.

This is clearly an excellent start to what can only be described as the challenge of a lifetime.

John Ryan did the same distance in 7 hours and 40 minutes for an average speed of roughly 65 miles per hour.
By my calculation, Dan's elapsed time to this point is 13% faster than John Ryan's record time. That is an outstanding
achievement!

I talked to Dan on the phone when he arrived in Fairbanks. He says the road was very dusty and that it was a tough ride
because he had to remain so intensly focused on what he was doing. But he made it to Fairbanks in excellent shape and he's feeling really good about what he's accomplished to this point.

His next milestone will be the customs port at Beaver Creek.

Speaking of "good shape"...Dan has been preparing himself physically for the ride for many months. He eats well and he weened himself off of caffeine well in advance of this trip as part of his overall preparation.

Dan is extremely well organized. He has planned this trip meticulously. Nothing has been overlooked. Nothing left to chance. In recent times when we talked about this endevour, we agreed that the bulk of this trip was going to be won in the garage. That's not to say that the riding is easy because it's not. It's simply to say that the importance of detailed planning cannot be overstated.

Dan arrived at the border at 0545 hours local time, 0945 Eastern Time. Given the hour of his arrival, he managed to get
through there without any delay what-so-ever. Up to this point he has traveled a distance of about 785 miles in 10 hours and
45 minutes for an average speed of 73 MPH. Oh crap, he's lost one MPH as a result of the border crossing and a fuel stop at Tok, Alaska!

There is no cell service in the area and so I am unable to call him and tell him to get his act together and pick up the pace...

At this point it should be noted that he is in the Yukon Territory and in the Pacific Time zone...3 hours earlier than Eastern Time.

At roughly 45 miles north of Haines Junction @ 0914 hours local time, he stopped moving. We learned later that the heat got to him and he had to stop to cool down because it was making him ill. That's one of the problems with being in the "land of the midnight sun"....it doesn't cool off much at night !

He started moving again at 1114 hours after relaxing for a couple of hours.

He arrived at Haines Junction @ 1140 hours local time, 1440 Eastern time. Elapsed time so far is roughly 15 hours & 15 minutes. That amounts to 987 miles in 15:15 or roughly 65 MPH average.